Electric locomotive.



J. E. WEBSTER.

ELECTRIC LOOOMOTIVE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1910.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

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ATTORNEY coLuMmA PLANOGRAPH cu.. WASHINGTON. u. c,

J. E. WEBSTER.

BLECTRIG LOOOMOTIVE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20 1910.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

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"III" COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO..WA5H\NGTON. D. c.

NiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. WEBSTER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NOR TO WESTINGHOUSEELECTRIG AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN E. WEBSTER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in ElectricLocomotives, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electric locomotives and other vehiclespropelled by electric motors and it has special reference to suchvehicles as are adapted to haul heavy loads at very high speeds.

The object of my invention is to provide simple and durable means for sosuspending electric vehicle motors of large size as to secure drivingconnections between the motor armatures and the axles of the vehicles ofa most direct and simple character, without encountering thedifficulties which have frequently been met in vehicles having lowcenters of gravity.

One of the principal objections to the use of concentrically mountedelectric driving motors of large size, arises from the fact that a bodyof large mass, 2'. 6., the motor, is located directly between thedriving wheels of the locomotive and therefore tends to produceexcessive strains and wear upon the flanges of the drivers and upon therails, thereby making the track maintenance charges excessive. In orderto avoid the above mentioned difi'iculty, it has been proposed to mountthe electric driving motor or motors in the cab of the vehicle andestablish a driving connection from the motor armature to the axlesthrough gears or side rods.

It is my aim to avoid the necessity for introducing connecting rods orgears and, at the same time, to eliminate the disadvantages of theso-called concentric mounting in which the motor armature issubstantially concentric with the axle of the locomotive not only permitof a certain amount of rotary adjustment between the armature and theaxle, but also a considerable amount of longitudinal adjustment, inorder that the driving wheel axle, considered as a whole, may follow thecurves and irregularities in the track without necessitating any suddenmovement of the motor, the mass of which is, of course, very great.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a sectional elevation of anelectric locomotive embodying my invention, one of the driving motorsbeing shown in elevation and parts of one wheel being broken away todisclose the driving connection. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portionof the locomotive shown in Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of twoelectric motors on ad j acent driving axles, one of the motor framesbeing shown in section to illustrate more clearly the means ofsuspension. Fig. 3 is a View corresponding to a portion of Fig. 2 andillustrating a slightly modified means for suspending the electricmotor.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the locomotive here showncomprises side frames 1 and 2, cross ties 3, 4 and 5, a cab 7, drivingwheel axles 8 and 9 and electric driving motors 10 and 11. and 9 areprovided with bearing boxes 12 on which the side frames of thelocomotive are supported, in the usual manner. Each of the motors 10 and11 comprises an armature 14 and a relatively stationary frame 13 whichis preferably divided, in a horizontal plane, into two sections in orderto facilitate access to the armature. The upper half of the field frameis provided with lugs 15 which are bored to receive a rod or shaft 16,and are preferably split in a horizontal plane, the two parts beingbolted together so that the motor may easily be removed withoutnecessitating the removal of the shaft 16. The motors 10 and 11 are bothsecured to the shaft 16, which is supported by means of the cross ties3, 4 and 5, as shown in Fig. 2, bearings 17, 18 and 19 being providedfor the shaft. Bearing blocks 20, 21 and 22 may be bolted, or otherwiseremovably secured, to the cross ties, but I prefer to employ bolts 23which extend completely through the bearing blocks and through portionsof the cross ties, springs 24 which surround the ends of the bolts andwashers 25 that are held in posi- The axles 8 j the friction in theshaftbearings tend tortard oscillation of the motors.

The motor armatures are maintained concent-rlc wlth the motor fieldframes by means "of bearings 27 that are provided in the end frames ofthe motors, in a well known manner. Each armature is mounted on a quill28, the inside diameter of which is considerably larger than the outsidediameter of the axle which it surrounds.

The quill 28 is provided, at its ends, with j radial arms 29 whichextend outwardly be tween the spokes of the wheels to which they areconnected by tangential springs 30,

I whereby a yielding connection which is the same in principle as thatshown and described in Patent No. 937,436, granted October 19, 1909, tothe Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company on an applicationfiled me April 10, 1908, is estab- Mochfications of this structure maylished. be employed if desired.

The shaft 16 is so placed that its centerline 1s substantiallyco-incident with the longitudinal gravity axis of the locomotive inorder that the motors may have as little tendency as possible to vibrateor forcibly change their positions when the locomotive is. in operation.Furthermore, the friction which is intentionally introduced into theshaft bearings permits rotary adjustment, but tends to preventoscillation of the motors about the shaft 16 as an axis.

By reason of the fact that the sleeves or quills 28 are considerablylarger than the axles with which they are associated and that a yieldingdriving connection is established between each motor armature and thecorresponding driving Wheels, the wheel axles, as a whole, are permittedto follow the irregularities of the track and to otherwise adjustthemselves independently of the motor, thereby materially reducing theshocks to which the rails are subjected, for example.

It is evident that the mass of the motor is very great, relative to thatof the wheel axle, and, consequently, although the motor is locatedbetween the wheels, the method of suspension is such that thedifiiculties usually encountered with this arrangement are avoided. Thesprings 30, which constitute the yielding driving connection, will, ofcourse, tend to center the motors, but it may be found desirable toprovide additional centering means, such as springs 31, which areattached to the cross tie 4 and project tangentially therefrom, beingsecured at their lower ends to a longitudinal rod or beam 32 which isbolted to the motor frames, as shown in Fig. 2.

The lugs 15 may be replaced by trunnion projections 33, as shown in Fig.3, of the drawings, and the springs 24 may be omitted, the lower half ofthe tie rod bearing being removable in order to permit the mo tors to bedetached from the locomotive frame. The central cross tie 4 of Fig. 2may,

'of course, be replaced by a pairof cross ties, v

and other structural modifications may be effected within the spirit andscope of my invention. 7

The arrangement of my invention differs materially from those in whichthe motor is suspended from the vehicle frame by means of links, in thatthe reactive forces produced by the motor torque are completely absorbedby the tight fitting trunnion bearings. There is, therefore, no tendencyfor the motor to vibrate from this cause and no special torque-opposingdevices are necessary.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a railway vehicle, thecombination with a -driving wheel axle and aframe having a plurality of cross ties, of an electric driving motorsurrounding the axle and yieldingly connected thereto and means forpivotally suspending the motor from the vehicle frame in its centrallongitudinal plane.

2 In a railway vehicle, the combination with a driving wheel axle and aframe having a plurality of cross ties, of an electric driving motorsurrounding the axle and yieldingly connected thereto and pivotallysuspended from the cross ties, the axis of adjustment lying in thecentral longitudinal plane of the vehicle.

3. In a railway vehicle, the combination with a driving wheel axle and aframe supported thereon and having a plurality of cross ties, of anelectric driving motor sur rounding the axle and yieldingly connectedthereto and pivotally suspended from a pair of adjacent cross ties, theaxis of adjustment being substantially coincident with the longitudinalgravity axis of the vehicle.

4. Ina railway vehicle, the combination with a driving wheel axle and aframe sup ported thereon and having a plurality of cross ties, of anelectric drivingmotor comprising a rotor surrounding the axle andyieldingly connected thereto, a stator having trunnion projectionsrotatably supported upon a pair of adjacent cross ties in an axis whichlies in the central longitudinal plane of the vehicle.

5. In a railway vehicle, the combinationwith a driving wheel axle and aframe supported thereon and having a plurality of ,cross ties, of anelectric driving motor com-- prising a rotor surrounding the axle andyieldingly connected thereto, a stator having trunnion projectionsrotatably sup ported by a pair of adjacent cross ties upon a horizontalaxis substantially coincident with the longitudinal gravity axis of thelocomotive.

6. In an electric locomotive, the combina tion with a plurality ofdriving wheel axles, a frame supported on the axles and provided with aplurality of cross ties having central bearings, of electric drivingmotors comprising armatures severally surrounding the axles andyieldingly connected thereto, and field frames having trunnionprojections rotatably mounted in the cross tie bearings, said bearingsbeing forcibly held in engagement with the trunnion projections toretard the rotary adjustment of the motor field frames.

7. In an electric locomotive, the combination with driving wheel axles,a frame supported thereon and provided with cross ties,

and a longitudinal shaft rotatably supported by said cross ties, ofelectric driving motors comprising rotors severally surrounding theaxles and yieldingly connected thereto, and stators rigidly secured tosaid shaft.

8. In an electric locomotive, the combination with driving wheel axles,a frame supported thereon and provided with a plurality of cross tieshaving central bearings and a longitudinal shaft rotatably mounted insaid bearings, of electric driving motors comprising armatures severallysurrounding the axles and yieldingly connected thereto, field framesmounted on said shaft and means for preventing relative rotation betweenthe frames and the shaft.

9. In an electric locomotive, the combination with driving wheel axles,a frame supported thereon and provided with a plurality of cross tieshaving central bearings and a longitudinal shaft rotatably mounted insaid bearings, of electric driving motors comprising armatures severallysurrounding the axles and yieldingly connected thereto, field framesmounted on said shaft, said bearings being forcibly held in engagementwith the shaft to retard the rotary adjustment of the motor fieldframes.

10. In an electric locomotive, the combination with driving wheel axles,a frame supported thereon and provided with a plurality of cross tieshaving central bearings and a longitudinal shaft rotatably mounted insaid bearings, of electric driving motors comprising armatures severallysurrounding the axles and yieldingly connected thereto and field framesmounted on said shaft, said bearings being forcibly held in engagementwith the shaft and said field frames being keyed to the shaft torespectively retard the rotary adjustment of the motor field framesrelative to the shaft and to prevent independent rotary adjustment JOHNE. WEBSTER.

Witnesses:

R. J. DEARBoRN, B. B. HINES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

